Teens Love YouTube Stars More Than Mainstream

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American teens love YouTube and its stars -- some even more than the shining Hollywood stars, according to a report.

Variety, the entertainment industry news standard, conducted a survey of 1,500 teens and found that the most influential celebrities were YouTube stars, Variety reported. Out of the top 10, six were famous on YouTube. The No. 1 was Smosh, the comedy team of Andrew Hecox and Anthony Padilla which specializes in decidedly adolescent humor.

The YouTube stars outpaced Jennifer Lawrence, Seth Rogen, and Katy Perry, showing that teens spend a lot of time watching user-generated videos. Others with little or no mainstream recognition dominated the list: Fine Bros., Benny and Rafi and PewDiePie, who videos his gaming online.

The survey asked several questions included how personalities fared in "approachability, authenticity and other criteria." It seemed that YouTube stars scored higher by being more relatable and authentic -- the criteria that has the highest chance of making teens buy things.

The mainstream stars tended to be rated as "smarter and more reliable," according to the report, while "sex appeal" ended in about a tie.

In the end, it's the PR machine that seems to make stars less attractive to teens. The artificial and noncontroversial persona tends not to resonate with teens -- and even likely adults --- and YouTube stars don't generally have handlers to soften their views or message. This also has some news for Hollywood -- that perhaps it should let its stars be themselves and individuals rather than a watered-down version of themselves.